Emerging talent Sebastian Berwick will lead Israel – Premier Tech in the Tour of Poland. The Australian will get the full support of experienced WorldTour-riders like Matthias Brändle, Alex Dowsett, and Reto Hollenstein.
The 22-year-old’s shape improved over the last few months, resulting in a stage victory in the Alpes Isère Tour in June, and fifth place in the queen stage of the Sibiu Tour. Berwick has been finetuning his physique over the last few weeks and is now ready to be the team leader in a WorldTour race.
“It is the first time I will be the man for the general classification in a WorldTour race and I am looking forward to taking on that role,” Berwick says.
Brändle, Dowsett, and Hollenstein will be there to support him, while Alessandro De Marchi and Mads Würtz Schmidt are also lining up. Last but not least is Taj Jones who, just like Berwick, rounded off a successful Sibiu Tour and will now bring it to the WorldTour.
Jones’ strong showing in Romania led to this first occasion of being named the designated sprinter in a WorldTour stage race for the young Australian. He will get a bunch of opportunities during this week of racing.
The Tour de Pologne is the first WorldTour race after the Tour de France, which was particularly successful for the Israeli team. The race in Poland consists of seven stages, finishing in the beautiful city of Krakow.
The general classification will most likely be decided on the penultimate day of racing when the riders are put to an individual test towards the Rusinski ski station. The uphill time trial is, next to the third stage which has four short climbs in the final, the toughest one in the road book.
Apart from that, things are predominantly flat in Poland this year.
